Hypospadias and Epispadias Association, Inc

Teen with Epispadias

I am 16 yrs old and I was born with epispadias. Growing up with the defect has been really hard for my family and me. You find yourself always trying to hide the facts. I have to wear pads because of my incontinence and I find it hard to do things normal kids do. I must always watch what I do. When I was 14 yrs old I told my best friend my condition and he was fine with it. He understood the problem. When I turned 15 I felt the courage to tell some more friends that were close. They didn’t take the news as well as my best friend. They ended up not talking to me and I was alone. It is very hard growing up and hiding the facts. School would probably be the hardest. Knowing that if you slipped on your words or news got out you wore pads or have epispadias just imagine what might happen. Sports are another issue. I can’t do crew or swim because I’m afraid of what others might think of me when they see me in a Speedo or tight pants. I know I can’t just run and jump in a pond if I wanted because I wear pads. So things are limited to us who have the problem. You find yourself have problems with doing stuff with friends. I currently have a girlfriend who doesn’t know. I don’t really know when the right time will be to tell. We all know high school things happen, I don’t want a sexual time to come up and her not knowing about my problem. So this is a word of advice to parents or kids who have it. Watch what you say and know who you say it too. Always have confidence in everything you do. So parents sit down and talk to your kids about their problem consult doctors.